Mumbai: ‘Is this actually an IB-affiliated school?’

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporationrsquos only International Baccalaureate IB school which the civic body claimed was seeing good response and had witnessed a rush for admissions until last year is now facing significant issues Parents have voiced concerns over a lack of teachers the absence of a principal and the lack of basic amenities such as CCTV cameras and water purifiers at the civicrun Mumbai Public School in Vile Parle EastAdditionally sections of the schoolrsquos signboard where its IB affiliation was mentioned have been covered with duct tape leaving parents uncertain about its current status The IB factor was key in admissions over the past three years BMC officials said that the IB affiliation cannot be mentioned on the board before they officially receive the affiliation letterldquoMy daughter is now in Std III hers is the first batch to reach Std III this year The new academic year began in April 2024 followed by a 15day break in June and the school reopened on June 15 However they still do not have a class teacher or a mother teacher for Std III Other teachers must manage the class often combining it with smaller classes The principal has been absent and we were informed she is on a long leave for health reasons Although this civicrun school claims to offer an IB curriculum neither the books nor the teaching meet IB standards Now even the IB label has been removedrdquo said Saavi Desai a parent Saavi and another parent mentioned that teachers informed them that from Std V onwards the school will follow the CBSE curriculum because the civic body cannot afford to offer the IB curriculumlsquoNo clarityrsquoAnother parent Vijay Verma whose daughter studies in Std II at the school said ldquoI withdrew my daughters admission from St Teresas school and enrolled her in a BMCrun school because they were offering an IB curriculum Private IB schools are unaffordable but here the education is free Now after two years there is no clarity about the schoolrsquos affiliation The level of teaching is not even on par with the SSC board let alone international standardsrdquoVerma added ldquoI enrolled my daughter when she was in senior kindergarten The teacher was excellent and the kids were happy However when the kids were promoted to the primary section the level of teaching declined There are two teachers for maths but there is no specialised teacher for English and Hindi causing the kids to lag We have complained about the lack of basic amenities to BMC officials The school entrance lacks CCTV cameras and there are no water purifiers If we complain the school authorities blame us and may keep the school closed for a few daysrdquoIn January parents met the assistant Municipal Commissioner of K east ward demanding that the level of teaching in the school should match IB standards They also raised the issue that despite having six active classroomsmdashthree for kindergarten and three for primary I to IIImdashthere is only one certified IB curriculum teacher One parent told midday that the books given to the children are skill books not used by schools following the IB curriculumOfficial SpeakWhen contacted a senior BMC official said ldquoI have heard about these issues A few parents are raising these concerns Regarding the affiliation the civic body has paid the registration fees and the affiliation is in processrdquoSayali Surve superintendent BMC other board schools said ldquoWe have provided all the facilities even 27 items we provide the students including books and bags There is no permanent teacher for class III but the process is on and within 1520 days we will have a teacher The process of affiliation too is in the pipeline We have already paid 30000 for affiliation and registration Teacher training too was conducted two teachers were trained already Since the affiliation is pending we are not allowed to write IB or world school so we have covered the board for nowrdquoDecline occurringTo prevent dropouts and divert more parents towards civicrun schools the BMCrsquos education department introduced the CBSE board in 10 of its schools from the academic year 202021 The initiative started in 2021 and as of 2024 the BMC has expanded to 22 nonstate board schools includingmdash19 CBSE schools 11 affiliated 1 ICSE school affiliated 1 IGCSE school pending affiliation and one IB school also awaiting affiliationHowever there seems to be a decline in overall applications this year The model of having a single CBSE school in each ward seems to be facing challenges and needs to be reevaluated according to many education activists For example a CBSE school in Mithagar Mulund received 171 applications for 238 seats Another school in Shanti Nagar Arthur Road received 353 applications for 612 seatsIn contrast a school in Bora Bazar Fort received only 23 applications for 612 seats and the Veer Savarkar Marg school in Vikhroli received 385 applications for 612 seats Additionally the Malvani Township school in Malad West received 406 applications for 612 seats These figures highlight the inconsistencies and challenges faced by the current model19No of CBSE schools run by BMC